"A documentary on the electric guitar from the point of view of three rock legends"

Film Synopsis:

It Might Get Loud tells the personal stories, in their own words, of three generations of electric guitar virtuosos – The Edge (U2), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and Jack White (The White Stripes). It reveals how each developed his unique sound and style of playing favorite instruments, guitars both found and invented. Concentrating on the artist’s musical rebellion, traveling with him to influential locations, provoking rare discussion as to how and why he writes and plays, this film lets you witness intimate moments and hear new music from each artist. The movie revolves around a day when Jimmy Page, Jack White, and The Edge first met and sat down together to share their stories, teach and play.

My Take:

Imagine throwing Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White onto a sound stage, giving them guitars and letting them have at it?? Miraculously, ‘It Might Get Loud' does just that. From the stage to their homes to an intimate sit down, it was a detailed view inside these ultra-influential and polar opposite musicians. The Edge is the deep, mellow, calculated player who is really into his toys and technology. Jack White is about feeling, noise, the blues and broken down vintage gear. Then we have Jimmy Page, the Yoda of the group. When he talks or plays, the other two pay attention and know their place. I wished there was more footage of these guys playing and talking together rather than their separate story arcs, as those are this films most engaging scenes. Thankfully this Blu-ray has more scenes of the guys together in the special features. When the three of them jam on Led Zeppelin's 'In My Time of Dying', ‘It Might Get Loud’ has its best and most pure moment. Seeing The Edge and Jack White’s schoolboy reaction to playing Zeppelin with Page was priceless. This documentary is about their passion for the guitar and the art behind it. It is not just for die-hards, fans of guitar or music in general- it's much more accessible than that. It is a well-paced and interesting look at 3 generations, 3 points of view and 3 distinct voices in Rock n' Roll history.

Parental Guide:

**My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.**

(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)

Audio: 94

Dynamics:

Low frequency extension:

Surround Sound presentation:

Clarity/Detail:

Dialogue Reproduction:

Video: 90

Resolution/Clarity:

Black level/Shadow detail:

Color reproduction:

Fleshtones:

Compression:

It Might Get Loud comes to Blu-ray Disc from Sony featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 22.8 mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 3.2 mbps.

For a documentary with many sources, 'It Might Get Loud' has a well-balanced and beautiful transfer. Even the interlaced archive footage is as good is it can be while leaving it untouched. The footage of the guys on the sound stage is sharp with great dark details and amazingly natural flesh-tones. I wouldn't be surprised it was filmed digitally in hi-def. The footage filmed on location in Tennessee, Dublin and England look like film and are not as perfect as its counterpart. It is a bit softer and has a little more grain pop out than I like. Overall this gets close to reference marks but just misses by the skin of its teeth. The audio doesn't miss and is reference. From the upfront and crystal clear dialogue to the subtle distinction of a finger sliding over a guitar string, you will find yourself silent, as you just want to keep listing. When the guys were jamming ‘In My Time of Dying’, it felt like they were in the room with me. When The Edge is playing ‘Where The Streets Have No Name’, my room became the sound stage. Everything was detailed and resonant. The low end was deep, controlled and used just as needed to compliment the kick drum and bass guitars. I gotta tell ya, I really enjoyed my system while watching 'It Might Get Loud'.

Final Thoughts:

There is a great moment when Jimmy Page starts riffing on Whole Lotta Love. The Edge and Jack White both look like little boys with awestruck frozen grins. I felt like that many times while watching 'It Might Get Loud". To any fans, music lovers or audiophiles this is a must have. To anyone remotely interested, it is a great watch. Besides having a slightly lackluster set of supplemental material, 'It Might Get Loud' is a great example of what good documentary filmmaking and Blu-ray can be. This will be re-watched and is a welcome addition to my collection.

Good review. I will go ahead and say I'm a big White Stripes and Zeppelin fan but haven't listened to much U2.

The story about Edge and his technique was painful to watch. He had nothing really interesting or insightful to say. There are tons of other guitarists from his generation I would have rather them follow around.

That being said, the rest of the movie was great. I would have loved for them to put out a sound track for it though.

Xbox Gamertag/PSN ID: RemoWilliams84

"I started out with nothing, and I still got most of it." -Seasick Steve

Lee....great review. I remember when this first came out, I had thought "what an interesting concept". I'll at least rent it, and then make a decision on whether to buy it.

Again, great review.

PS....I've noticed some "warnings" in ratings recently that state "smoking" as a reason for the rating. I'm not a smoker (I did have a congratulatory cigar when my son was born). But, I guess I just don't understand why that matters.

I don't agree with smoking, and certainly choose not to. But, to have a rating "ding" based on that? I do believe this is one of those areas that takes things a bit too far.

Music so high you can't get over it....music so low you can't get under it!

I saw this in the theater and then anxiously awaited the Blu Ray. It was a very limited theater run.. I live in Chicago and it was only playing in two theaters and I'm surprised how few people have heard of the movie. This is an amazing movie and just as good on Blu Ray as it was in the theater.

Good review. I will go ahead and say I'm a big White Stripes and Zeppelin fan but haven't listened to much U2.

The story about Edge and his technique was painful to watch. He had nothing really interesting or insightful to say. There are tons of other guitarists from his generation I would have rather them follow around.

That being said, the rest of the movie was great. I would have loved for them to put out a sound track for it though.

I couldn't agree more. I love Page and White. The Edge certainly doesn't belong in this company.

I couldn't agree more. I love Page and White. The Edge certainly doesn't belong in this company.

Thanks for the review Lee.

Quote:

Originally Posted by RemoWilliams84

Good review. I will go ahead and say I'm a big White Stripes and Zeppelin fan but haven't listened to much U2.

The story about Edge and his technique was painful to watch. He had nothing really interesting or insightful to say. There are tons of other guitarists from his generation I would have rather them follow around.

That being said, the rest of the movie was great. I would have loved for them to put out a sound track for it though.

+2

I like The Edge and U2, but both Jack White and especially Jimmy Page outclass him by a mile as far as guitar players go IMO. It was obvious to me that The Edge was included in this more for marketing presence than anything Overall great film though and really inspiring for anyone learning to play guitar as well I thought the PQ was very good and AQ was very good but neither are reference IMO. Audio was a little inconsistent due to the age of some of the material which only makes sense, but overall I did think it sounded VERY good.

I like The Edge and U2, but both Jack White and especially Jimmy Page outclass him by a mile as far as guitar players go IMO. It was obvious to me that The Edge was included in this more for marketing presence than anything

I was surprised with Jack White, I am giving some of his stuff more of a chance. When I heard about the movie I thought to myself how cool it would have been if it was Josh Homme instead of Jack. Then ironically Josh formed Them Crooked Vultures with John Paul Jones!

I am glad it has Jack, he was/is a great player and character

The Edge is a different player then the other 2 and his point of view was interesting to me. He isn't as much of a 'player' as he is a writer. And we all know he excels at writing music on the guitar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Toe

I thought the PQ was very good and AQ was very good but neither are reference IMO. Audio was a little inconsistent due to the age of some of the material which only makes sense, but overall I did think it sounded VERY good.

I based my assessment on the quality of what they filmed, knowing the archived footage is what it is. I didn't think it was fair to knock a documentary based on some 20 or 30 year old sources that to me, sounded really nice as well. Especially when the parts they did film looked and sounded so amazing on my system!

I was surprised with Jack White, I am giving some of his stuff more of a chance. When I heard about the movie I thought to myself how cool it would have been if it was Josh Homme instead of Jack. Then ironically Josh formed Them Crooked Vultures with John Paul Jones!

I am glad it has Jack, he was/is a great player and character

The Edge is a different player then the other 2 and his point of view was interesting to me. He isn't as much of a 'player' as he is a writer. And we all know he excels at writing music on the guitar.

I based my assessment on the quality of what they filmed, knowing the archived footage is what it is. I didn't think it was fair to knock a documentary based on some 20 or 30 year old sources that to me, sounded really nice as well. Especially when the parts they did film looked and sounded so amazing on my system!

Cheers

Agreed about Jack White. I knew very little about him before going into this and came out VERY impressed with him as not only a guitar player but as a musician in general. This guy has incredible passion for music and what he does it seems

Not familiar with Josh Homme Need to check him out. What would you suggest Lee?

I completely understand/respect your A/V review and in general I agree that it looked and sounded great. My comments were in comparison to the best on BR such as Stop Making Sense, NIN, Dave and Tim, etc.......compared to these, overall this film was a notch below due to the inconsistencies (which again are totally understandable). Just my opinion though. These concert/music discs are more subjective than anything it seems

Agreed about Jack White. I knew very little about him before going into this and came out VERY impressed with him as not only a guitar player but as a musician in general. This guy has incredible passion for music and what he does it seems

Not familiar with Josh Homme Need to check him out. What would you suggest Lee?

I completely understand/respect your A/V review and in general I agree that it looked and sounded great. My comments were in comparison to the best on BR such as Stop Making Sense, NIN, Dave and Tim, etc.......compared to these, overall this film was a notch below due to the inconsistencies (which again are totally understandable). Just my opinion though. These concert/music discs are more subjective than anything it seems

Awesome review though. Keep up the good work

Thanks!

Josh Homme guy behind Queens of the Stone Age.
His new band, Them Crooked Vultures has Him on Guitar/Vocals, Dave Grohl on Drums and John Paul Jones on Keys/Bass.

I'm also a huge Josh Homme fan. Any of the earlier Queens of The Stone Age stuff is great (Rated R and Songs for the Deaf are my favorite albums). But he is not what I would consider an influential (or potentially influential) guitar player.

Jack is. If you haven't seen anything of his, look up the live Blue Veins videos on YouTube (especially the Bonarroo video). Not only is he great, but one of the only true "Rockstars" left.

Edge to me is just kind of a good rhytm guitar player, but nothing that special. He also completely ripped off Jack White's sound on their single that they recorded after they filmed this documenary.

Xbox Gamertag/PSN ID: RemoWilliams84

"I started out with nothing, and I still got most of it." -Seasick Steve

Hey bud, its good. Very captivating. You want to see this believe me. I just wish it was 24/96khz.

Whats up Hughmc?

Are you referring to "It Might Get Loud"? I have seen it and it was very captivating I agree. Have always loved Jimmy Page and there are some very cool JP moments in this film (among others). I am progressing my own guitar learning right now and this film was VERY inspiring from that standpoint as well.

Although the previews kind of lead a viewer to think it's a 90 minute jam session between Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White, it's really more extended individual interviews with and a history of each guitarist's career that at times gets a bit over-the-top on the guitar instrument fetish aspect of rock guitar playing. The parts where all three musicians are together in a large warehouse style studio discussing each other's songs and playing styles, sometimes playing bits of tunes together only comprises about 30% of the movie which concludes with the three playing a great acoustic version of The Band's song "The Weight." There's some nice deleted scenes included on the disc, my favorite being Page discussing and playing bits of "Kashmir" with the other two musicians.

The one thing that many people including myself will probably come out of watching this movie is a greater appreciation for Jack White who could be (and is) criticized as too "retro" and perhaps contrived with his stripped down rootsy blues style, has an infectious passion and energy for (his) music that is hard to ignore and he *is* an excellent guitarist and overall musician. There's a few staged bits with White alone where he's with a 9 year old (uncredited) boy who's dressed like White and meant to represent White as a child with the elder Jack "teaching" the boy rudimentary blues that's a little odd.

The Edge spends a lot of time showing how he uses his massive arsenal of effects with guitars to come up with different sounds. There's one interesting and rarely seen early 1978-ish performance of U2 playing a pre-1st album song called "Street Mission" that I'm sure the band wished had never been filmed (Bono looks and acts like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever). But it's Jimmy Page however who comes across as the musicians' musician of the three and often basically schools the other two about songs, music in general and playing who are clearly in awe of Page.

I agree with the original review regarding a/v quality although I think there could have been a bit more separation giving the individual players a wider aural soundstage during the "Summit" portions of the film. One thing I liked about this blu-ray release, is you can listen to the film's audio and have the *commentary track subtitles* displayed at the same time thus getting both "perspectives" in one viewing.

Might be a bit to dry for many people and I personally wish there'd been more actual performance stuff with the three players together instead of the individual interview and archive footage stuff, but it's definitely worth a look and fans of rock guitar and especially any or all of the three musicians will definitely enjoy this.

I agree with the original review regarding a/v quality although I think there could have been a bit more separation giving the individual players a wider aural soundstage during the "Summit" portions of the film. One thing I liked about this blu-ray release, is you can listen to the film's audio and have the *commentary track subtitles* displayed at the same time thus getting both "perspectives" in one viewing.

I thought the same on the separation of the guitars so I really paid attention. What I 'think' was going on was they were mostly playing the same rhythm, at least The Edge was just replicating the other so he got lost as a layer. Page and White had good separation.

All I can say is that I was mesmorized by this doc. I am a big fan of all 3 but must say that White is my favorite. He has the passion of a hormonal teenage schoolboy. If you are not familar with the White Stripes, try the first couple of albums and listen to the raw sound...and Jack just beat that guitar. It sounds like it was recorded in a garage. Awesome, awesome stuff. In full disclosure, U2 is my favorite band. The edge is a pioneer in sound design more than a true virtuoso of the guitar. They barely touched on this but the Joshua Tree has so many layers of guitar. Take Where the Streets Have No Name. I bet the opening has 5 layered tracks creating a sound that was mindblowing when it first came out. I have seen them 4 times and every time they play that song, the crowd erupts into a deafening roar. I get goosebumps just thinking about it. And Page, well, Led Zepplin is one of the greatest of all time. I can't recommend this movie enough!!

One of my favorite points in the movie is where Jimmy Paige was in his little record colleciton room listening to some old album and playing air guitar. You can tell that he truly has a passion for great music, and even though he is one of the greatest guitar players of all time, he still loves to rock out to some of his old favorites like a kid.

Xbox Gamertag/PSN ID: RemoWilliams84

"I started out with nothing, and I still got most of it." -Seasick Steve